"Race" in College Admissions FAQ & Discussion 4

[StitchInTime]

<p>From the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights web site:</p>

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[Race-Neutral</a> Alternatives in Postsecondary Education:
Innovative Approaches to Diversity](<a href=“http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/edlite-raceneutralreport.html]Race-Neutral”>RACE-NEUTRAL APPROACHES IN EDUCATION:)</p>

<p>Americans overwhelmingly agree that diversity in our schools, neighborhoods, workplaces, and community organizations is enormously positive. In the past, many educational institutions have tried to reach this important goal by giving preferences to certain individuals based on their race or ethnicity. People of goodwill have reached different conclusions about the merits of these policies. But there are serious and important reasons for educational institutions to look for new alternatives. Policies granting preferences on the basis of race and ethnicity raise constitutional questions and are increasingly being overturned in the courts. Moreover, voters in various jurisdictions have passed state and local initiatives restricting the use of racial preferences. These legal and policy trends mean that we must work together to look for new solutions.</p>

<p>This publication describes innovative “race-neutral” programs being implemented across the country. Educational institutions will find that there are dozens of race-neutral options available to them. They will also find that the early results from these programs are promising. Moreover, the initial positive results are only the beginning; the full advantages of many of the race-neutral alternatives described in this publication will not be fully felt until they are seriously implemented and several classes of students have been able to benefit from them…</p>

<p>…ADMISSIONS APPROACHES</p>

<p>Several state university systems have created race-neutral policies to determine which students are admitted and which are not. Presently there are two new major categories of race-neutral approaches to admissions. The first is a preference based on socioeconomic factors. The second is the class rank approach. Class-rank plans guarantee admission to state universities to high school seniors who graduate within a specified percentage of their school’s senior class, and, in certain cases, fulfill certain other basic minimum requirements. Below is a description of these various approaches.</p>

<p>**Socioeconomic Approaches **</p>

<p>Some educational institutions are replacing preferences based on racial or ethnic category with preferences based on an applicant’s socioeconomic status. In other words, university admissions committees might favor students who have performed well despite having faced various social and economic obstacles. Advocates of socioeconomic preferences argue that a student from a single-parent family living in a neighborhood with high concentrations of poverty who has a B+ average and a 1000 score on the SAT is likely to be more resourceful and capable than a student from a wealthy suburban home who has had access to expensive after-school tutoring programs and has achieved an A- average with a 1200 score on the SAT.</p>

<p>The definition of socioeconomic disadvantage often begins with three key factors: parents’ education, family income, and parents’ occupation(s). Other factors are also often considered, including a family’s net worth, family structure, school quality and neighborhood quality (for example, many argue that a neighborhood of concentrated poverty and high crime rates is not conducive to homework). All of these factors are quantifiable and can be made readily available when students complete their applications for college and for financial aid…

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